


The Witch Spy

by SWSWWAD



Category: Strike Witches
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alien Invasion, Alien Technology, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Alien Invasion, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - World War II, Conspiracy, F/F, Ghosts, Haunted past, Horror, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Magic, Magic-Users, POV Lesbian Character, Psychological Horror, Romance, Spy - Freeform, War, Witches, World War II, haunted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 08:55:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7884769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SWSWWAD/pseuds/SWSWWAD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is happening in the shadows and as the war continues with the Neuroi it has the potential to do serious harm to humanity. Who ever is in the shadows is good leaving little clues about their plans. All that is know is that their first move will be made in Britannia at the base of the 501st Joint Fight Wing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Tracy Phillips of Britannia's MI5 receives her orders while her past haunts her

The forest is so dark that I can't see the trees until they are inches from my face, my clothes have been ripped to shreds from catching on branches of the trees I narrowly avoid running into. All I can hear is my breathing and footsteps as I run through the forest. Something is chasing me; it's only just behind me, I can hear whatever it loudly slam's its feet into the ground, snapping every branch and crunching every leaf as it relentlessly pursues me. I can hear it breathing sounding more like a beast than a human and feel its hot breath on the top of my head as I feel it travel down my back.

I can't see whatever is chasing me. Every time I look back over my shoulder all I see is a darkness darker than anyone could imagine. I somehow know out of instinct that whatever is chasing me can't be good, that it will hurt me and will most likely kill me if it catches up and that no matter what I mustn't let it catch me. Please god let me escape, don't let whatever it is catch up to me.

I don't know what I am doing here in the wood or how I could have got here in the first place. I live in Swindon by the train tracks and factory's, a world away from the vast forest I'm running through now. I haven't been to the woods since I was a child and my family spent the day at Lydiard Park but even the small woods around Lydiard House aren't as big or thick as the forest I'm running through right now.

I don't know why I'm being chased because I normally behave myself, I do lie and steal as part of my job, but it's all for the greater good, or so I'm told. I work for Her Majesty's Security Service or more commonly known MI5, and my enemy's the Neuroi, the great threat to humanity that is attempting to destroy my homeland and has already conquered most of Europe. The Neuroi don't breath or chase they just slowly float and blast anyone in their path with powerful beams. The Neuroi can't be chasing me. So what is?

As I continue to run through the endless wood I get more and more out of breath and as my tiredness raise so does my fear as I begin to realize I can't run for much longer. My training has made me fit, and I know from experience that I can run for miles and not feel tired but this run through the dark forest is pushing me to the limit.

My pursuer stays in step with me never falling behind and keeping a relentless stream of hot breath blowing down my back and on to the back of my head. Whatever's chasing me doesn't seem tired at all as its breath has stayed steady and consistent throughout the pursuit. The beast pursuing me seems to be taunting me staying just behind me but never letting me see it and just waiting, waiting for me to tire myself out so I won't fight back, won't be able to escape it and be left completely defenseless. As I come to that realization my fear level doubles and terror starts to become all that drives me on, it's given me a sudden burst of energy that I desperately needed. Hopefully, it's all I will need to escape this forest and whatever is chasing me.

I run and run but can't seem to find a way out of the woods or shake my pursuer. The forest is starting to look like they can be endless as I can see no clearing through the trees. All I can see is darkness, darkness, and trees that appear out of nowhere threatening to block my escape without warning.

I can't keep running for much longer, I can barely breathe, sweat floods my eyes making it hard to see, and my legs feel like they weigh a tone. Every step now feels like it will kill me and every root or lump on the ground threatens to trip me. I know if I go down I won't be getting back up, that thought begins to horrify me, falling and finding myself at the mercy of whatever monster is chasing me. In the meantime whatever is chasing me stays close and never seems to fall a single step behind, it's waiting for me to fall, waiting for its time to strike. Why doesn't it just kill me already? It's just following me not doing anything, and the waiting for it to strike, the waiting for it to finish me off is just unbearable.

What's it waiting for? Why can't it just end it? Put me out of my misery and end this. This is just torture, the worst kind of torture as it eats away at my mind and fills me with terror. Every step I take is pure agony as my muscles burn and feel like they weigh as much as my families safe does, I can't breathe as my lungs feel like they are on fire and my legs no longer seem solid, they feel more like jelly then bone and flesh.

I somehow manage to keep going though, I don't know how I found the energy to keep on running, but I do, it could be from the fear, or it could be from unknown strength within me that keeps me moving, but somehow I still can run. But it doesn't last long, my foot gets caught under a tree root invisible to me in the darkness of the forest, and I land face first on the ground getting a mouth full of dirt.

I try to get up, but all the strength I once possessed has left my body, I'm so weak right now I can't even spit the dirt out of my mouth. I can't even lift my arm so getting back up on my feet would take a miracle. As I lay on the ground gasping for air to fill my burning lungs and an iron taste forms in my mouth, I must be bleeding as I can think of no other way that taste could have entered my mouth. I'm so exhausted that I forgot about the beast chasing me, that is until I feel its breath on top of me, but now I can smell it. It smells of blood and rotten flesh. It’s so disgusting that the beast makes me want to puck only I no longer have the energy to do so. I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for death to take me unable to do anything to prevent it at this point.

"Tracy," The beast calls to me only it doesn't sound like a beast at all, it sounds human and familiar.

The voice is one I've heard before; I can't put my finger on it but I know I've heard that voice before. The voice is sweet, gentle and makes me feel warm and safe, but I can't my guard down knowing it could only be a ruse by the beast to do the impossible and make me an, even more, easier prey to kill.

"Tracy Phillips," I know that voice, and it sounds more and more familiar by the second, where have I heard this voice before? A hand lightly and gently grips my shoulder before it softly shakes it. The hand, it feels so small, and it's so tender that I start to doubt that the owner of the hand can do me any real harm. "Please look at me Tracy."

The voice begs, and the voice is so sweet and innocent that I can't bring myself to refuse its request. I slowly roll over winching as my muscles complain by sending waves of pain throughout my body, even doing something as simple as rolling over to lay on my back proves to be a real effort. God, I'm so weak and pathetic right now.

I slowly open my eyes to see a little girl who looks to be five at the most wearing only a white nightgown that’s too big for her with the end rolled up at the bottom to stop it dragging on the dirty forest floor. The girls face is expressionless, her mouth is closed not smiling or frowning, her eyes are as dark as the forest around her, but her pale white skin seems to be glowing in the darkness giving of some sort of light.

"Can you help me now?" The girl asks staring down at me.

"…" I open my mouth, but no words come out. Now that I can see the girl and hear her voice asking me that question I remember who she is. "You…You…You…"

"Yes, it's me," The girl says sounding more menacing as her dress starts to turn a dark red, a blood red.

"You… You should be dead," I finally manage to say putting all my remaining energy to force those words out of my throat. As soon as those words leave my mouth I have to cover my nose, the smell of blood and rotten flesh, the smell of death becomes so overwhelmingly strong that I think the odor alone may kill me. "I saw you die."

"Oh I am," The girl replies as her skin turns grey and her veins turn black as if ink has started to flow through them. "And you will join me soon enough!" The girl suddenly screams as she jumps onto my chest opening her mouth to reel a black void inside. "It's what you deserve!"

* * *

I suddenly wake up not in the forest but in my bed. Sweat covers my body, and my blanket is tightly knotted around my legs. My heart is pounding my chest so hard that I wouldn't be surprised if I've broken a rib and when I place my hand on top of my chest over where my heart is it feels like someone is punching my hand from within my chest. I slowly calm down after a few deep breaths, my mother would always make me do this when I needed calming down, and so far it hasn't failed to calm me down yet, it was just a nightmare, and I'm safe and sound in my bedroom.

Why did I have that dream now? It's been nearly a year since I last dreamt that dream, I used to dream it every night back then. I slowly look around my room as I continue the breathing exercise to calm myself down, I know it was just a dream, but I have to make sure that the girl isn't here in my room. I need to know that I really am awake in my real room and not still in a nightmare. It has happened before, I wake up and calm down thinking I'm awake and safe only to find the girl in my room, have her charge at me and only then after enduring a second assault do I finally awaken for real just as she tackles my body screaming bloody murder.

Looking around the room I see nothing, the only things in the room apart from myself are a small bed damp with my sweat and a small stack of oak drawers. Out of the window, I see the sun rising, and with its light I scan the rest of my room see no sign of the girl, I let out a sigh of relief. I can't face that girl not after what I've done to her, I've done something horrible and something I am not proud off to her.

There's no point in going back to sleep since the sun is already up so I might as well get up myself, I don't think I'd be able to sleep anyway after that nightmare. I stumble into the bathroom and over to the sink leaning on it for support, I never did have good balance in the morning. I run the cold water letting it run over my hands using its coldness to wake myself up, I then splash the water over my face to wash away the sweat looking up in the mirror once I'm done. My green eyes shine like emeralds, my lightly tanned skin looks perfect except for the dark bags under my eyes and a small burn scar on my forehead that I received as a child is clearly visible. My long brown hair is in a mess and lays in damp tangles over my face, shoulders and down my back.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Hello, Captain Phillips are you awake?" A male voice asks through the door, his voice is deep, and I know exactly who it belongs to, Colonel Lee English my commanding officer. What could he possibly what at this ungodly hour?

"Yes sir," I reply turning off the water tamp so I can hear him better, I hope he doesn't come in I don't want anyone to see what a mess I am right now. "I'm not decent right now do you mind if we speak through the door?"

"Not at all," He answers not sounding like he doesn't mind at all in his voice. "I'm just here to tell you to meet me in my office in half an hour."

"Ok I'll be there," I tell him starting to wonder what would have come up to cause him to come to my room at such an early time of the day but I know not to ask him. I know he would just tell me something like "I'll tell you when you get to my office."

"I'll see you in half an hour then," He says walking off without giving me a chance to say goodbye.

I stumble over to the shower still not awake or balanced enough to call my movement just then walking and switch on the shower. The water here always takes a few moments to warm up, so I use the time to strip naked. I take off my thin blue nightgown that has several flowers on the front and back, I don't wear any underwear when I sleep, so it only takes me second a to relieve myself of my clothes. I just stand here naked waiting for the water to warm up enough to make it bearable to stand under, I hate being naked as I always get self-conscious about my body, my thighs always seem to be too fat and my breasts, my breast I never think are ok. They not small but most of the girls in my school had bigger breast than me especially this one girl Lynnette Bishop or Lynne as she prefers to be called who earned the envy of every girl by having the biggest rack in school.

I haven't seen Lynne since I left to join the military after the Neuroi first appeared. I hope she's alright and not involved in this terrible war as I can remember her as a nice quiet girl who was a bit shy but would always help anyone in need, she doesn't belong in this war. I first met Lynne when I was twelve, and we quickly become good friends. We were inseparable at school constantly spend nights together at each other's homes. I would give anything to relive those time's as I've never been as happy as I was back then.

Finally, the water is warm enough for me to step under and I quickly get in the shower, the water feels so nice as it hits my skin and tinkles down my body warming my naked flesh and in an instant, all my worries about my problems with my body vanish. It would be good if all my problems would vanish when I step under a warm shower but the world doesn't work like that, and I'll have to face each and every one of my problems one day.

Now my mind wonders back to the Colonel and why he wants me to meet him in his office this early in the morning. It can't be to do with the Neuroi because MI6 deals with them when they are on foreign soil, and MI5 only deals with them only when they are in Britannia. It can't be the Neuroi as they haven't attacked us since last Friday or is it them? Could they have launched a surprise attack using stealth units so that we couldn't detect them until it was too late?

I really don't know what the Colonel wants as since joining MI5 just over a year and a half ago I've only done two missions. When I was still in the RAF, we would do two missions a week, and in the eight months, I was with my RAF squadron I've managed to kill sixty-four Neuroi. But since joining MI5 apart from those two missions, I've only done paperwork and run messages from one officer to another officer.

I step out of the shower once all of the sweat has been washed away from my body and dry myself with a hard white towel. Once done I walk into my room picking up my nightgown on the way, and once back in my room I throw my nightgown into a dirty clothes basket by my door and open my drawers to get out my uniform. As soon as I put on my uniform, I quickly put my boots on and look into the bathroom mirror. Standing in my room, I can see my entire body, and I'm satisfied that everything ok.

My green uniform has all its buttons done up, and in the right holes, I was really embarrassed when I got that wrong last month. There's no stains, tears or creases on clothing, my legs are bare as I'm a witch and witches uniforms don't include any trousers or skirts, it used to embarrass me walking around like this, but after a month it just felt natural to do so. I have a cap on my desk next to a picture of my family, but I don't need to put it on until I leave my room, what I really need to do right now is brush my hair as it is still in a mess and then brush my teeth.

* * *

Thirty minutes later I'm entering Colonel Lee's office, inside I find four men lined up one side of the desk and the Colonel sat on the other. All of them watch me enter and one of them a shorter younger man compared to the rest at the end of the line gives me a little too much of a stare as I see him eyeing my chest and bare legs. Luckily the older man next to him catches his gaze as well and slaps him on the back of the head before scolding him. I really hope he wasn't undressing me with his eyes just now.

I shut the door behind me and take my place at the end of the line of four men thankfully at the opposite end of the man who got an eye full of me. I take a quick look at the Colonel and see a large folder on his desk, a brown envelope, a large bag of money and two uniforms. I was about to ask what was happening when another man enters the room, he is old and starting to lose his grey hair, his uniform and insignia on his shoulder show he is a Major. The men in line with me instantly salute him, so I do the same, I don't know who his man is but looking at everyone and everything in the room I believe all of us will be going on a mission, and he's most likely going to be in charge.

"At ease," The Major says after he returns the salute.

"Take your place in line Major, and I'll begin," Colonel Lee tells him, and the Major joins us in the line taking his place next to me. "Before I begin I need all of you to read and sign these."

 He pulls out a stack of papers and hands them to the Major who takes one and passes it on to me, and I take one and pass the rest on and so one. I begin to read through the paper and instantly know what it is as I've had to get civilians to sign this very piece of paper before. It's a Non-disclosure agreement so whatever is about to happen is going to be classified, and we are about to be told something that's meant to be kept secret. I get a chill down my spine and feel excited at the same; I don't know if I should be scared or excited about being involved in something like this.

I quickly read through the paper feeling a nervous chill go down my spine as I read the part about being executed for treason if I breach this agreement. But my excitement of being part of this overpowers my fear and when it's time we take turns leaning on the desk to sign it I do it without hesitation. Once done we retake our positions in the line and wait for the Colonel to check our signatures are on the paper.

"Ok now, what I'm about to say must be spoken to anyone apart from those of us in this room. If you tell any on what is about to be said then as you just read you will be court marshaled executed for treason," The Colonel again tells us again sending a chill down my spine, I don't know why something like this gets me excited, but it does. "At two o'clock yesterday afternoon a communication was intercepted, we couldn't trace it or figure out who sent it and to whom it was sent to, but we could decrypt it." The Colonel pauses a moment picking up a piece of paper which most likely has the message on it. " ** _It reads "501st Joint Fighter Wings base seems to be the best location to make our move,"_** This message was not sent over any military or civilian channels, and we check with command and asked other nations but they are just as clueless about this as we are. We believe that it has something to with a letter delivered to H.Q last week which says. **_"A rouge group is growing in strength and will soon make a move."_** Again we don't know who sent the letter but both these messages combined is a threat we can't ignore."

"I take it that's where we come in," The man who stared at me says getting another slap in the head by the same man as before.

"Yes, it is where you come in," The Colonel replies picking up the brown envelope and opening it. "Our orders are to survey the 501st Joint Fight Wings base and be on the lookout for any sign of trouble, Captain Phillips, Sargent Barnett step forward." I step forward along with the young man who stared at me still rubbing his head from his recent blow. "You two will infiltrate the base, Captain Phillips you will be a new member joining the 501st and Sargent Barnett you will be a mechanic. Also, you two will be posing as cousins who have been separated by this war and have not seen each other in years, the 501st commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke forbids contact on the base between the mechanics and witches so this story will make your interactions with each other less suspicion."

"What will the rest of us be doing sir," The Major asks.

"I'm getting to that," The Colonel replies picking up and passing one of the uniforms on his desk to me and then passing the other to Sargent Barnett. "You two will be keeping an eye on the witches and base personnel. Sargent Barnett since it would be hard for Captain Phillips to leave the base you will act as a messenger between the two of you and the others now take your new uniforms and get back in line."

"Yes sir," Both Sargent Barnett and I say in unison as we pick up our new uniforms before retaking our places in the line.

"Sargent Osborne and Lieutenant Lawrence you will be keeping the base under surveillance from a distance" The Colonel continues his briefing. "Major Robinson will be in charge of the mission."

"Sir is there any more information about what we should look out for," The Major asks taking a step forward. "We could easily miss something if we don't know to look out for it."

"Unfortunately no," The Colonel answers picking up the two messages and handing them to the Major. "We don't know who we are up against, their numbers and how they will do what they are doing. All we know is that they are going to make their first move at the 501st Joint Fighter Wings base so you will have to be extra vigilant and look out for anything suspicious."

"Understood sir," The Major replies stepping back in line with the two messages still in his hands.

"A truck will be waiting to take Major Robinson, Sargent Osborne and Lieutenant Lawrence to a safe house in a town near the 501st base and Captain Phillips, Sargent Barnett I suggest you two get changed quickly as a plane will be ready to take to the base in ten minutes." Colonel English says to bring the briefing to an end. "Major Robinson, Sargent Barnett," The Colonel says handing them a thin brown envelope each which he takes out of his desk. "Inside is the address for the safe house, memorize it now as those envelopes won't be leaving my office."

"Yes sir," Both men reply opening the envelope and looking at its contents with such intensity I swear they could burn a hole through the envelope. Once done they hand the envelopes back to the Colonel.

"One more thing, don’t under any circumstance do not let anyone on the base or in the town know about this we don't know who we can trust and risk causing a panic," The Colonel says as he lights the envelopes containing the address of the safe house on fire. "Dismissed and good luck."

With that we all leave the office, me and Sargent Barnett holding our new uniforms and Major Robinson carrying the two messages, the big folder and the large bag of money. Sargent Barnett and I head for our rooms to change and the other three head straight for the truck awaiting them. I can barely contain my excitement as I walk to my room barely stopping myself from running, this my first mission my first real mission since joining MI5. The other missions I've been on I was only the support, but this time I'm playing a key role in the mission. I hope my excitement wasn't too obvious to the others as I don't want them to think as me as some little kid, I'm already several years younger than the other being only sixteen years old myself well Sargent Barnett being the next youngest looks like he's in his early twenties. I have to show them I'm not some little kid and I can get the job done as it's the only way I can get to be part of more missions like this.


	2. The Strike Witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tracy arrives at the base and reunites with an old friend.

The plane ride is short only an hour-long flight, but it is as boring as hell. The only good thing about this flight is that on board I'm reunited with my old Striker from my time in the RAF Ultramarine Spitfire Mk IX which still has a picture of the Britannia Shorthair cat that happens to be my familiar. A girl painted it in my last squad who loved to decorate and painted everyone's familiars on their Striker Unit's; boy did she get into trouble for it when the base Commander found out though.

I thought I would have died from fright when I listened to him shouting at her, and I'm sure the girl wet herself. Her punishment ended up being an exhausting task; she had to dig a hole in a nearby field and then fill it back in twice a day for a week. The hole had to be the length of the shovel in depth and width making her punishment last on average twelve hours a day, by the end of her punishment the poor girl's hands were covered in blisters preventing her from painting for nearly a month which was far worse for her than her punishment ever was. I hated our base commander ever since that which lead to several arguments, eventually I took the first transfer I was offered and joined MI5, mainly so I wouldn't kill the bastard.

Also, on-board I find myself face to face with the prototype gun I was given when I first joined MI5 but only fired once outside of target practice. A new variant of the Vickers K machine gun, this new variant has the same rate of fire and range as the old version, but it has better accuracy and is more reliable being less likely to jam up in combat. Also, a nice new feature they improved the weapons stock and lowed its recoil making it easier to fire and more accurate to fire fully automatically. I really like this gun for that reason mainly as my shoulders hurt a lot less when fire it then when I did during my time in the RAF firing my Bren light machine gun.

At least we are coming in to land at the military base now. I think I would go crazy if I had to stay in here for another hour. Sargent Barnett hasn't said a word this entire flight; he's just sat opposite me drawing something which I hope is not me naked while he hums quietly to himself. The only other two people on this plane are the pilots, but they haven't left the cockpit since they got on the plane. Apart from mine and Sargent Barnett's privet and military issued equipment and clothing, my Striker and weapon there is food supplies for the base and ammunition for the 501st.

Outside the plane, the day has been nice and sunny, but unfortunately, it's also a cloudy day meaning I can't see anything but white fluffy clouds out the window only getting a slight glimpse of green in tiny gaps through the clouds. All in all, this has been a very peaceful but an equally boring quiet flight, at least we are finally here, at least I'm about to get off this plane before I die from boredom.

The plane finally touches down on the runway and comes to a halt. Taking a quick peek out of the window of the plane I see that there are several witches clasped on the runway panting for breath and looking in my direction will an eye-patched woman with a katana sheath on her back, and red-haired women are stood side by side ready to great me and Sargent Barnett.

The eye-patched women look like she is from Fuso and the red-haired looks European, they both have the same blank expression on their faces meaning I can't tell much about them apart from their appearance. Seconds after the plane comes to a halt one of the pilots for the first time since they boarded the plane leave the cockpit and open the door at the rear of the plane before turning to us and gesturing for us to leave the plane. I don't think the pilots like Sargent Barnett or me that much and can't wait for us to get off their plane.

"You must be Captain Tracy Phillips our new member," The redhead says as I step out of the plane. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke."

"And I'm Major Sakamoto," The eye-patched women tells me looking me over from head to toe as if I was some prized mutt.

"It's nice to meet you both ma'am's," I reply with a salute after I set my feet down on the runway. "Captain Tracy Phillips reporting for duty."

"You don't have to sault anyone in this squadron Tracy and please just call me Minna," Minna tells me with a warm, bright smile and I immediately lower my hand, her smile fills me with warmth, and I can't help but return her smile.

"You don't have to salute me, but I still expect you to call me Major Sakamoto or just Major," Major Sakamoto says in an authoritative tone if they hadn't of just told me their ranks I would have thought Major Sakamoto was in charge and Minna was her second.

"Now then follow me, and I'll introduce you to the unit," Minna says still warmly smiling. "Major would you see to the unloading of the supplies and our new mechanic please."

"I'll get it done quickly," Major Sakamoto replies looking over to the panting witches on the runway still trying to catch their breaths. Now that I'm off the plan I can see that there are three of them there two Europeans and another Fuso witch who laid face down on a familiar looking girl's chest there's something familiar about that girl. "I’m not done with those three yet."

"Give them some time to recover I don't want them passing out any time soon," Minna tells her before walking off towards the trio of exhausted girls.

She doesn't need to tell me to follow her as I already know that's what I'm meant to do. I want to get a better look at one of those girl's anyway because she looks very familiar and I know I've seen her somewhere before, if I can get a better look at her then maybe I can place a name to her face.

Once we approach the trio, they seem to notice us and try to stand, but the best they can manage with their tired and most likely aching bodies is to sit up. A blond-haired girl with glass tries to stand but her arms give out from under her, and she lands face first onto the runway, the other two don't even attempt to stand learning from the blonde’s mistake.

"Girl's I want you to meet someone," Minna cheerful says as we stop near them and she pulls me in front of her. "This is our new member."

"Oh, hi I'm Captain Tracy Phillips from the Britannian Royal Air Force," I say, and just as the words leave my mouth, the girl I thought looked so familiar looks up and I get a good clear look at her face, now I know who she is. She has light brown hair in a braid down her back which has become a mess from whatever these three were doing before my arrival and her blue eyes that look like the sky light up when she sees me as she recognizes me too. "Lynne."

"Tracy," Lynne responds but her tired barely audible voice can barely count as a reply, it's only just a whisper. What happened to those three to make them so tired that they can't even speak?

"Do you two already know each other?" Minna asks looking at Lynne then me then to Lynne again before returning her gaze to me.

"Yes, we went to school together," I answer knowing full well that Lynne wouldn't be able to answer in her current state. "And by the way what happened to these three because looking at you now makes me think this appears to be a daily occurrence?"

"It is the Major training them hard to get them ready for the fight," She replies causing me to gulp knowing that I may be like them tomorrow. "Now back to the introductions the Fuso girl is Sargent Yoshika Miyafuji."

"It's nice," Yoshika says between breaths. "To meet you."

"And the Gallian girl is Lieutenant Perrine H. Clostermann," Minna says pointing to the girl who just moments ago landed face first on the runway and is now sitting up leaning against a wall.

Her nose is bleeding from the impact it took hitting the runway; her blood is dripping down her face and onto her uniform, the tissue she's got is barely stopping the blood pouring out of her nose and is already soaked in blood.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Perrine says wiping gravel and blood off her face with her free hand while the other presses the blood-stained tissue to her nose.

"It's good to see you again Lynne," I reply to the greetings. "It's nice to meet you too as well, and I hope we will all get along."

"Let's leave these girls to rest before the Major resumes her training and introduce you to everyone else," Minna says turning to face me still with a warm smile on her face which still makes me smile back. "Two more of the squad should be in the hanger right now so follow me, and I'll take you there."

Minna leads me into a large hanger that doesn't seem to have a door; the ceiling is so high that I can barely see the lights up there and the room is nice and spacious. Along one wall is a line of paintball guns for several types of machine guns, anti-tank guns, submachine guns and rifles from all over the worlds. Along the other are tools and spare parts for the striker units and along the back wall are a line of Striker Units in there stands with a tall girl working on one while another younger girl watches from a distance laying on top of a blanket looking like she could fall asleep at any minute.

The taller and clearly older girl has long hair the color of honey, and as we approach she turns around to face us reveling a pair blue eyes slightly darker than Lynne's and her boobs, her boobs are larger than I thought humanly possible. The tall girl stands up as we near her putting down her tools and taking off a pair oil stain gloves, I'm guessing she is from Liberion by the look of her uniform.

"Shirley, Lucchini I got someone here I'd like you both to meet," Minna says and the tall Liberion steps forward towards me she must be a foot taller than me at least.

"I'm Captain Tracy Phillips," I say extending my hand to her "From the Britannian RAF."

"Nice to meet you I'm Captain Charlotte E. Yeager and I'm from Liberion, but you can call me Shirley," She replies tightly gripping my hand so tight that it feels like she might crush it. But I don't let the slight crushing pain in my hand to show on my face and squeeze her hand back just as hard.

She starts to laugh for some reason when we let go, it's not a mean laugh and more of a giggle really, but I don't think it is something mean meant to insult me.

"You've got a nice strong handshake there I can't remember the last time someone gave me as good as they got with one of my handshakes," She congratulates me with a slap on the back that nearly causes me to fall over. "I think well get along just fine."

"Shirley where did Lucchini go I could have sworn I saw her when we entered?" Minna asks, and I follow both their stares to the blanket I saw the young girl sat on minutes ago only to find it empty.

"I don't know she was…" Shirley began to answer when I suddenly feel a small pair of arms wrap around me, a small flat chest press against my back and a pair of hand begin to grope me.

"Ahh!" I yell out as quickly grab the hand groping me, and I spin around to find the young girl from the blanket with a grin on her face. The girl has black hair, lime-colored eyes and doesn't look to be older than twelve. "Why did you do that?"

"I was just measuring…" The girl suddenly stops talking and starts to shake as she turns to face Minna, when I look at Minna I see her still smiling, but this time instead of warmth I feel dread behind her smile, I can't believe her warm smile could change so quickly.

"Is that any way to greet someone?" Minna asks, and even her voice now is sounding scarier to hear and makes me shiver. The girl shakes her head, poor kid she is probably too scared to form words in her mouth let alone speak them. "Now introduce yourself propyl to our new member."

"I'm Francesca Lucchini from Romagna," The girl says her voice filled with terror and her body shaking like a leaf. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too" I reply before the girl runs off and hides behind Shirley.

"Well we will get going now to find the other I'll see you two at dinner," Minna says before turning once again to face me only this time her warm smile has returned making me smile once again. "Come Tracy lets go introduce you to the others."

"I'm right behind you," I reply before Minna leads on heading for a double door at the back of the hanger.

Once through the double door I'm immediately impressed by what I see, this place looks more like a palace for the Royal Family than a military base. Statues, paints, and vases of flowers line walls and the floor are covered in an expensive looking carpet.

"So how long have you known Lynne for?" Minna asks as we walk down the corridor.

"Several years," I answer. "We both didn't know anyone when we first started school and were left by ourselves at break and lunchtime. We started sitting next to each other and talking eventually becoming friends and helping each other out, Lynne would help me study and tutor me while I made her look good in P.E. I'm surprised to see her here though I never thought she would have joined the military."

"She's a nice girl, and her sniping skills are unrivaled," Minna comments. "But to be honest, I would have thought she would never have joined the military as well if I was in your position; it's the same with Lucchini and Yoshika those three seem too kind and nice to be soldiers. The others have their reasons to fight or are natural born soldiers. Lynne is determined to fight and protect hers and your homeland; I think if the Neuroi weren't at Britannia's doorstep she wouldn't have enlisted."

Minna leads me through the corridors and up the stairs, this whole place is a palace, and I can't believe my mission involves me staying in such a place, I feel like the luckiest person who has ever lived to be assigned to such a place. The upstairs is just as luxurious as the downstairs but the view out of the windows is the perfect most beautiful view I've ever seen of the Channel. This base is so big that I'm surprised only the members of the 501st sleep here as you could probably fit an entire army possible two in here and still have plenty of room free.

But we don't stay on this floor for too long, and Minna leads me up yet another staircase two more floors until we finally come out into a corridor that has oak doors as for as the eye can see along the walls of the corridor. But one door is open, and shouting can be heard from within, whoever is shouting sounds strict and stubborn, but I can't hear whatever is being said in reply, all I can tell is that it's annoying whoever is shouting.

Minna leads me straight to the open door where the shout is coming from and into a pigsty, everywhere you look here is piles of clothes, food wrappers and books littering the floor. Stood amongst the mess is a girl with hair as brown as chocolate in two pigtails and wearing a Karlsland air force uniform, she's stood with her hands on her hips looking annoyed and frustrated as she glares at a pair of legs buried under a blanket in the middle of the mess on the floor.

"Trude, Erica I have someone I'd like you to meet," Minna says after knocking on the oak wood door getting at least the chocolate haired girl's attention, whoever the legs belong to don't seem to acknowledge us in any way.

"Who is it?" The chocolate haired girl asked spinning around to see us.

"I'm Captain Tracy Phillips from the RAF, and I'll be part of 501st Joint Fighter Wing starting as of today," I answer stepping over a pile of clothes extending a hand towards her.

"I'm Captain Gertrude Barkhorn from the Karlsland air force, and that's Erica Hartmann also from Karlsland, but I don't think she will be greeting you herself," The chocolate haired girl says before turning back to the pair of legs. "Hartmann get up and introduce yourself!"

"I'll do it in ten minutes," A voice mumbles through the blanket in reply causing Barkhorn to clench her fists in frustration.

"Ten minutes my ass now get up!" Barkhorn yells pulling the blanket from the legs reviling a short blonde girl wearing nothing but her underwear trying to block out the light by tightly clenching her eyes shut; she must be Erica. "Come on Hartmann look at the first impression you are making right now!"

"Twenty more minutes," Erica mumbles as she rolls over onto her stomach and buries her face under a white shirt laying on the floor. "Maybe thirty."

"No way now get up right now!" Barkhorn demands ripping the shirt from Erica's face.

"Fine forty minutes," Erica replies quickly finding another shirt to replace the one Barkhorn just took.

"I think we will be going now," Minna says backing up to the door, I don't think she likes walking into this room as she keeps tiptoeing around like the mess on the floor will bite her if she touches it. "Tracy and Erica will have to be introduced later."

I follow Minna out of the room and back into the hall where she leads me to the other end of the corridor.

"Is Erica always like that?" I ask as we walk.

"She's lazy and messy, but she's also one of the best witches in this unit destroying more Neuroi than most of the other of our squad members combined" Minna answers as we around the corner at the end of the hall. "I only wish she was not as messy as she is, I don't mind her laziness, but I saw a rat running around in her room once."

I don't say anything feeling creeped out by the images of rats running over my feet while I was in that room. I’m surprised that Barkhorn doesn't seem to mind the threat of rats at all, when I finally was about to speak again and reply to that a pair of girls emerge from one of the rooms.

One of the girls looks young and sweet, but she is half asleep being supported by another slightly older looking girl who looks like she doesn't mind helping the sleepy girl. The sleepy girl has short silver hair that sparkles and green eyes which she can barely keep open; her skin looks so soft and pale that it tells me right away that she is a night witch. The sleepy girl is only in her underwear like Erica, but she has a blanket draped over her shoulders most likely by the other girl. The other girl is taller than the sleepy one with long very light brown hair and purple eyes, she's wearing a light blue uniform and has her arm around the sleepy girl stopping her from falling to the ground. The awake girl notices us and looks me over from head to toe sizing me up for some reason.

"I take it Sanya ended up in your room again," Minna says as we approach the girls.

"Yes, she did," The awake girl replies shifting her stance slightly to better support her sleepy friend who looks like she could fall asleep and fall over any minute now. "Is this the recruit you said would be joining us?"

"Yes, this is Captain Tracy Phillips from the Britannian Royal Air Force," Minna answers gesturing towards me.

"It's nice to meet you too," I say having the awake girl look me over again for some reason.

"I'm Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen it's nice to meet you too," The awake girl finally replies after sizing me up. "And this is Aleksandra Vladimirovna Litvyak or Sanya," Eila says looking at the sleepy girl who just started to rest her sleepy head on Eila's shoulder. "She does night patrols, so you'll hardly see her, but she has a habit of walking into and sleeping in other people’s rooms when she returns from patrol."

"You should get Sanya into her bed and get to know our new member later," Minna suggests, and Eila nods helping Sanya to her room which is only next door to Eila's. "Now that's everyone in the squad so follow me to my office, and I'll get started on the paperwork we need to fill out to make you an official member of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing."

Minna leads me up another flight of stairs climbing another three floors until we step into another long corridor with yet more oak doors lining the walls as far as the eye can see, forget two armies staying here you could probably fit the entire Britannian armed forces in here with room to spare. Minna leads me to the end of the corridor where a large oak door slightly thicker and bigger than the others with a door handle polished to a point where I can see my reflection in it.

When Minna opens the door and lets me in, I see a large desk at the far side of the room in front of a tall, wide window which must give an amazing view of the outside world. Bookshelf's, filing cabinets and maps line the other two walls. On the desk already waiting and ready for us are several forms and an ink and quill as well as a telephone. Minna and I both sit at her desk and go through the forms and once my name, rank, age and nationality are written on the forms it's nearly lunchtime, so we go down to join everyone except Sanya in the dining hall for lunch.

The dining hall is just as posh and luxurious as the rest of the base. The room is large with a wooden table long enough for every one of the squad to sit down at. A large window's give a lovely view of the grounds of the base which look more like a palace garden a military base. When I look into the kitchen, I see it has everything a chef could ever want.

Everyone is there already apart from Sanya who must still be asleep, and Erica might as well not be here as she's asleep also with her head on the table laying in a small pool of her own drool. Everyone smiles at me as I take a spare seat at the end of the table next to the blond girl Perrine I think her name was, well not everyone is exactly smiling at me, Major Sakamoto only nods, and Eila still seems only to be staring at me.

Lynne and Yoshika are just exiting the kitchen when I take my seat carrying a tray each with a pile of sandwiches on top. Once they place them on the table, Lynne quickly runs back into the kitchen and returns with another tray with a cup of tea for everyone and a glass of water for me on top which with the help of Yoshika places in front of us. I'm glad Lynne remembered how hyper tea makes me and that I don't drink it. Otherwise, I would have felt it a bit rude to refuse the cup. Once they take their seats, everyone starts to eat taking sandwiches from one of the two trays on the table.

"Don't you want any tea Tracy?" Minna asks as we begin to eat.

"I don't drink tea or coffee," I answer as I grab a sandwich from the tray. "I'll be up all week if I do."

"Do you and Lynne know each other because she had the water already poured for you like she knew you don't drink tea or coffee already?" Shirley asks, and I reply telling her what I told Minna earlier about going to school with Lynne and only getting to know each other by having no other friends. "I see so you've known each other for years."

"Yep," I reply with a nod, and Lucchini suddenly climbs onto Shirley's lap knocking the sandwich from Shirley's hand in the process.

"So, has Lynne always been that big?" Lucchini asks excitedly as points to Lynne's chest, Lynne instantly goes bright red upon hearing this and crosses her arms over her chest trying to hide her two mountains and protect them from the stares everyone is giving them.

"I knew her before puberty, so no," I answer hoping my response doesn't embarrass Lynne too much, one of the many things that haven't seemed to change about Lynne is that she is still easily embarrassed.

"So how did she get them that big?" Lucchini asks leaning closer to me so she won't miss one bit of my reply. I have a feeling she wants breasts like Lynne's and Shirley's one day.

"I don't know," I answer and in an instant her head drops, and she slowly makes her way back to her seat having her hopes dashed by learning there's no great secret to having a large chest.

The rest of the meal passes by in a blur but a pleasant one, everyone seems nice and ask me a lot of questions even though it makes me feel like I'm some new toy. Most of the question isn't about be me though, everyone seems to be very interested in mine and Lynne's past, and Lynne starts to answer some of the questions thankfully giving me a quick respite from the questioning.

We told them about our school life which everyone was interested in comparing our school life to their own and sharing laughs at our mistakes. Sakamoto and Barkhorn, on the other hand, seemed more interested in my military career though and lost interest when the subject switched from sports to academics. I tell them about my sixty-four Neuroi kills and other battles I had with our enemy, I tell them about my old squad and have to make up lies about what I did over the last year and a half because I can' tell them I'm with MI5. Thankfully when I joined MI5, they taught me how to lie, and I convince everyone my made-up story was true.

I tell them I was injured and in the hospital for the last year and a half in a coma making a mental note to ask Major Robinson to forge me some documents later to back up my claim if they get suspicious. After the meal, Minna pulls Lynne and me aside to speak with us, Lynne's acting nervous and if I remember the look in her eyes right then, I am guessing it's because she thinks she's in trouble. Me well I'm not nervous at all knowing I can't be in trouble because I haven't done anything wrong, Lynne really needs to learn how not to get so nervous all the time and how to relax.

"Can I speak to you two?" Minna asks pointing to Lynne and me as everyone starts to leave. Lynne and I both wait for the room to empty and Minna to begin to talk, Lynne is fiddling nervously with her hands while Minna and I are stood as still as statues while we wait. Finally, the room empties, and Minna begins. "Since you two know each other Lynne do you mind giving Tracy a tour around the base?"

"No, I don't mind," Lynne replies with a small smile.

"Also, there's a small problem with your room Tracy," Minna tells me. "A water pipe burst last night, and your room won't be ready for a few days so would you two minds sharing a room till then?"

"No, I don't mind," I answer turning to face Lynne. "Is it ok with you?" 

"I'm ok with it," Lynne replies before I turn back to Minna.

"Good now that's settled I'll leave you two alone tour the base and catch up," Minna says before walking off leaving us two by ourselves.


	3. The Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lynne shows Tracy around as the two old friends catch up.

Lynne begins the tour by showing me around the ground floor of the base where the hanger, storage rooms, kitchen and dining hall are before taking me up floor by floor. The second floor is not currently being used right now, so we just skip it, the third floor has a library, a library this base has a library, a lounge, bathhouse built in a Fuso style and a sauna. The fourth floor is where everyone sleeps, and apart from Lynne and me, everyone has their own rooms. The fifth and sixth floors are just used for storage right now, and the seventh floor is the command floor where Minna's office, the radar room, archive and communication room are and is the busiest part of the base with people walking from room to room carry papers. The next level up is the top of the base where you can even see the occupied coast of Gallia and for miles in every direction.

"The view up here is lovely," I say leaning over the railing and gazing out over the channel.

"It sure is," Lynne replies joining me at the railing. "So, what have you been doing since I last saw you?"

"Fighting the Neuroi," I answer still leaning over the railing. "I was part of the Isle of Wight Detachment Group with you sister until a year and a half ago when I was transferred to the Ark Royal and protected the Atlantic Convoys, getting put in a coma and now I'm a member of your squad."

"My sister mentioned you in the letters she sent me but she never really said anything other than that you are ok or you killed another Neuroi," Lynne tells me.

"Well you sister had limited paper to write to you, and I bet there was a lot more than me she wanted to talk about," I say looking over to Lynne and catch her smiling at my comment.

"She did," Lynne says looking over the channel smiling. "She would always tell me how she was, how the war was going and the adventures she had."

"I have a feeling most of them were made up," I comment letting out a quick giggle remembering Wilma and the tails she would tell Lynne and me when we were in school. "You sister could be a published author if she wanted."

"Yeah she could," Lynne replies also giggling. "I always thought the story in one of her letters about her saving you from a Neuroi trap was made up."

"It was," I tell her. "I was the one that saved her with the help of Laura."

A small brown haired girl joins us walking up behind us as I say that when I turn around and get a better look at the girl I see it's Yoshika the young Fuso girl who I first saw struggling to recover and last saw exiting the dining hall. She is smiling taking a quick look at the view and then a close look at both Lynne and me as if trying to decide whether to join us.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Yoshika asks smiling as she switches her gaze from Lynne to me then back again.

"Of course, you can join us Yoshika," Lynne replies in her usual cheerful voice as she returns Yoshika's smile.

"I would love for you to join us," I say, and in an instant, she turns her smile towards me.

"I'm Yoshika Miyafuji," Yoshika says bowing her head. "I know Minna told you my name, but I was too tired to induce myself properly."

"I'm Tracy Philips," I reply with a smile as she raises her head. "It's nice to meet you."

"So, shall we continue the tour," Lynne asks.

"What have you got left to see?" Yoshika then asks me, but before I can answer Lynne answers for me, I'm grateful as I have no idea what I was going to say, I know what I've seen, but I have no idea what I have left to see.

"I've shown her around the inside of the base, so it's only the outside left," Lynne answers for me.

With that Lynne leads Yoshika and me back down the stairs all the way to the ground level where we exit through the main entrance. The main entrance is a massive improvement from hanger door I entered the building from originally with a large grand staircase, big vases filled with beautiful flowers filling the room with their equally as beautiful scents and a pair of statues stand by the main door guarding it with shields and spears their hands from any threat.

A red carpet covers the floor making me feel like a movie star, whoever owned this castle in the past must have been the richest person in the world, even the large double doors look expensive, strong and impressive with flowers, trees, and birds engraved into its wood. Hanging down from the ceiling is a shiny gold chandelier polished to the point that it sparkles and the ceiling from which it hangs looks perfectly clean without a cobweb in any corner. I'm not really surprised as this whole castle is perfectly cleaned and I don't think that any dust will dare to settle anywhere in this castle.

Outside of the castle is just as beautiful and impressive as the insides, as Lynne and Yoshika lead me outside the smell from all the flowers instantly hit my nose as a cooling breeze blows into my face. It isn't long before I see the souse of the beautiful scents my nose is picking up on. There's a single stone path leading away from the entrance, and on either side of the path is a filled with flowers, I can see every color that exists in the world right now, and I've don't think I've smelled anything as good as this before.

To my left, I see the Channel, and if I look hard enough then I can just about make out Gallia in the distance, to my right is the green fields and hedgerows of the Britannian countryside with crops and livestock filling most of the fields. I hear a roar above me, and I look up to see two witches flying high above me in what appears to be a mock battle, I can hear the quiet pops of the guns as they shoot paint at each other and hear the roars of their engines as they accelerate away from each other. It looks like a good battle as every move one makes the other quickly counters and returns the favor only for her attack to be countered as well.

Finally, one of the girls gets an edge on the other and fires apparently hitting her target. The girl hit then does something I never expected her to do or have ever seen done before by anyone. The girl holds her chest as if she has been shot for real and dives down towards the ground as if she has really been shot down. The two girls were originally so high up that I couldn't see anything of them over then a small spec up there in the sky but now the girl pretending to be hit and falling to the ground if getting close enough for me to make out more detail.

She has blond hair that is waving in the wind of her fall, her eyes shine a bright blue, and her lips have formed a smile as she plummets to the ground. If I can remember her name correctly, I believe its Erica Hartmann, yes Erica Hartmann, the girl who was asleep in a mountain of rubbish and dirty clothes that wouldn't wake up even when Barkhorn was threatening her.

She lands not that far away from us pulling up just before she hits the ground and takes off her Striker Unit, she turns to face Lynne, Yoshika and I smiling with the front of her shirt covered in paint from at least five or six good direct hits. I look up at the sound of approaching engines and see her opponent is or was Barkhorn, and she is coming towards us looking annoyed.

"What do you think you were doing Hartmann?" Barkhorn yells as she stops and hoers just above Erica. "Pretending to be injured is not going to get you out of training so put you Striker Unit back on right now."

"But I'm tired and thirsty," Erica moans like a child in response and lay down with her back on the grass and flowers causing Barkhorn to clench her fist in frustration. "I'll be back up there in ten maybe thirty minutes."

"No," Barkhorn replies flying closer to Erica who's now closed her eyes and looking relaxed, I have no idea how she could be this relaxed with an angry, annoyed and frustrated Barkhorn hovering closer to her. "If let you rest right now you will waste all the training time we have now get up."

"Are they always like this," I lean over and quietly as Lynne not wanting Barkhorn to turn her wrath on me.

"Yes, Erica is lazy which annoys Barkhorn and Erica seems to do this just to tease Barkhorn some of the times," Lynne answers me in just a quiet voice as I just used to mean only me can hear. "We should carry on with the tour and leave them alone to sort it out."

Lynne carries on the tour taking us through the garden, and the further away we get from the arguing Karlslander's the less we hear them, and the more peaceful the garden becomes, we can only hear the occasional shout from Barkhorn now as no doubt Erica is saying some unreasonable time.

We follow the stone path further until we reach the firing range. The range is just like the one at my old base with firing positions set up and targets down range for us to aim at. The range has everything it needs no more no less, I was expecting it to look like the castle does with flowers and statues, but it looks just like a firing range should, I guess whoever built the castle didn't build the range. The targets down range are made of metal and behind them is a thick concrete wall and dirt mound to stop any bullet from leaving the range. The area is clean and tidy like the rest of the base with no bullet casing, fallen leaf’s or branches on the range.

"This place hardly looks used," I say as I look around the range.

"I don't use it but everyone else does," Lynne tells me. "My Boys anti-tank rifle has a long range, and because I'm a sniper, Major Sakamoto has me practice shooting off the edge of the runway to hit a target far out to sea."

"I'm surprised you could even fire that rifle," I reply smiling at Lynne feeling proud that she could do something I couldn't while I rub my shoulder remembering the times when I had to fire a Boys anti-tank rifle. "When I tried to fire one of those rifles it would hurt my shoulder with its recoil."

"My sister gave me tips to minimize the effect the recoil has on me," Lynne says. "She's been shooting a Boys anti-tank rifle for as long as I can remember."

"Lynne is your sister in the military too?" Yoshika asks speaking up for the first time since joining us.

"Yes," Lynne answers turning to face Yoshika. "She's a Sergeant also and is currently in the Isle of Wight Detachment Group, but she's starting to lose her magic, so I don't think she will stay in the air force for much longer."

"This range has a good view at least," I say trying to lighten the mood as the news of Lynne's sister losing her magic threatens to dampen everyone's sprites. I'm not lying though, the view of the sunset from the firing range really is lovely. "Time sure has flown by today."

"Oh, no we haven't started dinner," Yoshika says in a panic.

"Don't worry we can get dinner started now," Lynne replies in a calmer voice. "If we hurry then we can still make it in time." They were about to run off when Lynne stops and turns to me. "Will you be alright on your own?"

"Yeah I'll be fine," I tell her. "You two should go and cook before you have an angry mob of hungry witches to deal with."

"Ok I'll see you at dinner," Lynne says before running off after Yoshika.

I watch Lynne run off until she's out of sight and then slowly start to make my way back to the base, I think I'll head to the hanger and check on my Striker and gun, making sure whoever unloaded them didn't damage them. The view of the setting sun keeps me occupies during the walk back to the base and is the main reason why I'm walking so slowly and taking so long to walk back. It's the most beautiful orange and the way it reflects on the water is just so perfect that I can't possibly put what I am seeing into words, the only word that comes to mind is beautiful.

I make my way slowly down the stone path, slowly through the flowers and into the base, it is only when the walls of the base block my view of the perfect sunset that I start to walk at a normal speed and look where I was going, I swear it was a miracle that I didn't walk into someone or thing on my way here. The base is a lot darker than before now, and lights are slowly starting to flicker into life and dimly light up the warm. The castle looks slightly creepier now with large dark shadows in every corner, and they all make me shiver and remember my dream.

I walk to the hanger remarkable without getting lost or making a single wrong turn along the way, inside I spot Shirley still working on her Striker and Lucchini asleep high up on a beam laid on top of her blanket. Shirley doesn't even notice me enter too busy working on her Striker to notice anything happening around and while Lucchini, Lucchini is fast asleep so even if a Neuroi walk in here right now I doubt these two would even notice.

I walk past Shirley who's humming a tune happily to herself as she works and heads straight to my Strike which is now at the end of the others. I look it over and can't find any scratches or marks to indicate damage and move on to check my weapon happy that my Strike is undamaged. I find my weapon easily among the other guns, being a prototype my machine gun stands out amongst them. I look it over again seeing no scratches or marks to indicate damage, so I decided to open it up to check on its insides. I would have done the same with my Striker, but I will have no idea what I would have to look for, my machine gun, on the other hand, is a different story, I know a lot about the insides of guns.

"What are you doing?" A voice asks as I put my gun back together nearly making me jump out of my skin and drop my gun to the ground. I turn around to see Barkhorn stood behind me with her hands on her hips. Shirley's still humming away to herself oblivious to what's going on around her.

"I'm just checking my weapon in case it was damaged being transported here," I reply feeling like a nervous little kid in trouble with their parents. "But it looks like it's in perfect condition."

"Well, it's a soldier's job to maintain their equipment, so I guess you aren't doing anything wrong by checking it over," Barkhorn says in a confident voice. "By the way what type of gun is that? I've never seen one like it before."

"It's a prototype for a new variant Vickers K machine gun," I answer. "It's more accurate and reliable than the current model making it deadlier against the Neuroi."

"Well that's good," Barkhorn says in a voice that doesn't scare me as much as the last one. "Anyway, you both should wash your hands, and I know you can hear me Yeager so grab Lucchini and wash your hand's dinners about to be served."

"Yeah yeah I'll be there once I'm done modifying my Striker," Shirley replies not stopping what she's doing or even looking away from what she's doing.

"Well we are not waiting for you again so get washed up and to the dining hall soon, or you'll be eating whatever we have cold," Barkhorn warns her before turning back to me. "The same goes for you."

"Where can I wash up," I ask looking at my hands and examining all the grace that is now coating them.

"There's a bathroom just down the hall seconded door on the right," Barkhorn answers before she walks off.

"Thanks," I call out after her as she leaves the hanger.

I place my gun back in its spot and quickly follow her words and walk straight into the bathroom to wash my hands. When I run the tap the water quickly warms up, and with the help of soap, my hands quickly become sparkling. The warmth of the water and the feeling of it running over my hands removing all the grease and dirt from my skin feels amazing and don't want to pull my hands out from under its warmth, but the loud, painful grumble in my stomach forces me to.

I walk out of the bathroom just as Shirley and Lucchini enter, Shirley is covered in oil, grease and everything else that goes into making a Striker work, Lucchini, on the other hand, looks completely clean other than a bit of drool on her chin from her nap. They both seem happy as they enter smiling and Lucchini is giggling about something, they smile at me as they enter and I return the smile before walking off towards the dining hall. When I enter the dining hall, I find that everyone but Shirley and Lucchini is already here and Lynne and Yoshika are just starting to place plates in front of everyone filled with food.

I take a seat at the end of the table next to Perrine just as Lynne places a plate of food in front of me smiling at me as she does so. Looking down at my plate I'm guessing it must be Fuso food, I've never seen or eating Fuso food before so this will be a new experience, and I'm curious about how it will taste.

Shirley and Lucchini enter the room as soon as Lynne and Yoshika set the last plate of food on the table before sitting down themselves. As soon as everyone is seated everyone digs in, I'm a little hesitant at first slowly picking up my food with my fork and bringing it to my mouth. I'm curious about what it will taste like, but at the same time, I'm dreading tasting it in case I don't like it, in case I make myself look rude and spit the food out all over the table in front of everyone. I open my mouth and take the first bite of Fuso food in my life, and when I take that first piece of food into my mouth, it explodes into a sea of flavors that makes my mouth happy.

"Is the food alright Tracy?" I look up to find Yoshika watching me; she was probably watching me the whole time to see if I like her countries cuisine.

"Yes, it's delicious," I answer bringing a smile to her face before she starts to eat herself.

The rest of the meal goes by in a flash just like this day and before I know it everyone's finished eating and leaving. Only Yoshika, Lynne, Minna and I remain in the room, Yoshika and Lynne are collecting the dishes to wash up and Minna who's walking towards me.

"You clothe, and personal belongings have been placed in Lynne's room," Minna tells me. "Also, you have training with Yoshika, Lynne, and Perrine tomorrow; Major Sakamoto will be the instructor, so I suggest you get a good night's sleep."

"Yes ma'am," I reply. "Everyone in Britannia is aware of the Major's training routine."

"Well I don't think it's as bad of the rumors say it is," Minna tells me. "But you will still need a good night's sleep to get through it, goodnight."

"Goodnight," I say back as she leaves the room. I walk into the kitchen picking up the last of the plates as I go and find Yoshika and Lynne washing a mountain of pots, pans, and plates. "Need a hand with that?"

"Yes, if it's no bother" Lynne replies as she takes some of the plates from me. "Can you dry up as we wash?"

"Sure," I say placing my plates down next to where she places hers and grabbing a towel.

We wash dishes for half an hour until everyone last one of them is so clean they could be used as mirrors and by the time we put them away its time for bed. We walk for our rooms together, Yoshika's room turns out to be right next to Lynne's, she tells me to knock if I need anything and then we say our good nights before entering our rooms.

Lynne's room is nice and spacious with a large double bed that will be more than enough room for the two of us, several draws and a large wooden wardrobe that looks like it can hold everyone's clothes. My bag of clothes have been left in the center of the room looking completely out of place, so I move it into the corner of the room. Lynne offers to give me some space in her draws and wardrobe, but I refuse saying that I'll have my own room soon enough so it will be easier if I don't unpack.

So, with that we get changed into our nightwear, Lynne's wearing a cream-colored nightgown that seems too tight around her chest like it could burst open at any minute, while I put on a green colored nightgown that fits me perfectly. We crawl into bed as soon as we change and Lynne pulls the blanket up to our chins, it feels like forever since Lynne, and I have been this close. We used to have sleepovers all the time and sleeping shoulder to shoulder with Lynne has always made me feel safe.

"It feels like forever since we been together like this," Lynne say's as if she read my mind.

"Yeah but I remember either your dad or mine bursting in to yell at us to go to sleep the most," I reply laughing at the memory of our parents bursting in on us, and we pretend to sleep struggling to stop our giggles. "They never did go through with their threats to stop us having sleepovers."

"I think they were too tired to remember because it was five in the morning for most of those occasions," Lynne tells me, and I look over managing to make out a smile on her lips through the darkness. "While speaking of tiredness, we should get some sleep as we will need every bit of energy for Major Sakamoto's training tomorrow.”

"Good night Lynne," I say before letting out a yawn.

"Good night Tracy," Lynne replies, and before long she's sound asleep, I can't fall asleep as quick as Lynne just did, but with Lynne's warmth next to me I feel safe and fall peacefully into slumber seconds later. If the rumors about Major Sakamoto's training are true, then I will probably be just like Lynne and out like a light every time my head hits the pillow.

* * *

  **Lynne's POV**

* * *

Tracy falls asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, I close my eyes and start to try to join her but the feeling of warmth, her warmth something I haven't felt in a long time and something I missed so much join the army.

Feeling her warm body lying next to me makes me feel so safe and happy that I wish morning will never come so we can stay like this forever. We used to do this every weekend, I would spend a night at her house one week, and the next night she would spend the night at mine. Those nights were some of the best nights of my life; we would stay up as late as we could, talking, eating sweets and chocolate, reading books and telling stories, those nights are nights I wish and would give anything to repeat. If it weren't for the war and the Neuroi, then we would still be having those nights.

I roll onto my side and look at Tracy, her face looks so peaceful when she sleeps, it always has, she is breathing steadily and looks completely at peace like she doesn't have a problem in the world. I wish I could be at peace like her.

"Goodnight Tracy," I whisper softly, so I don't wake her up moments before I join her in slumber.

* * *

  **Sargent Barnett POV**

* * *

"Noble this Trojan come in," I call over the radio, I need to make my report, and I'm already half an hour late.

 

"This Noble we read you, Trojan," A voice replies quickly, it takes them less than a second to reply after I finished talking. "Transmit code Trojan."

 

"That which sees all wins all," I say given the voice the code I was given.

 

"Code confirmed Trojan send your report," The voice tells me.

 

"Infiltration successful both parties in place," I reply.

 

"Good proceed as ordered Noble out," The voice says before disappearing.


	4. The Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The base is attacked and Tracy is forced to use her power.

**Tracy's POV**

* * *

I wake up to a dark room, I can no longer feel Lynne's warmth beside me, and when I roll over to face where Lynne should be laying, I see nothing but the darkness of an empty room. I sit up to look around the rest of the room to find anything as far as I know in its place and wrapped in darkness, I look out of the window hoping to see the sun rising over the horizon to light up this darkness, but I only see more darkness.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Three loud bangs echo through the halls nearly making me jump out of my skin, look to the door and find it shut.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Three more bangs echo through the halls. I must go see what the banging is, I don't want to, but something is drawing me towards the bangs, some powerful unseen force wants me to find what's coursing them.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Three more bangs much closer now ring out as I grip the door handle, they so powerful that I feel the door handle vibrate in my hand with each bang. I immediately drop the door handle a back away from the door as my heart skips a beat. I want to just crawl under the covers again, but that unseen energy has a strong grip on me, and I can't resist it, I walk to the door and open it up as fast as I can knowing that the slower I open it the more scared I would become.

As soon as the doors open I jump into the corridor to find it pitch-black and something wet and slippery covering the floor. I look down the corridor in both directions but see nothing, to my right darkness, to my left more darkness, and now a horrible rotten smell is getting stronger by the second fills the corridor.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Three more bangs ring out to my right; they are louder, more violent and a lot closer than before. I look to my right and see the lights on the walls light up one by one moving away from me into the distance. They light up the area right to the other end of the corridor, and when they light up a figure at the end, my heart skips a beat.

The figure is small, wearing a blood-soaked white nightgown with blood dripping from her body onto the floor. It is now I realize what has caused the floor to be wet and slippery; I look down to see the floor covered in dark red blood which now covers my feet with a thick wet layer of red. When I look back up my eye's lock with the girl's eye's that are still darker, then black and her stare fills me with dread and terror.

Her lips turn up into a smile as if she can sense my growing fear and my entire body starts to shake. Why is she doing this to me? Why appear before me when I'm sure she knows I can't face her after what I did?

The girl slowly walks towards me and every time she passes a light bulb it smashes leaving nothing but darkness behind her to match her eyes. Her pace is slow and steady as if she's savoring the moment and enjoying my fear. I move my shaking hand to the doorknob hopping to let myself back into Lynne's room before the girl reaches me, but when I manage to find the doorknob, I find that Lynne's door is locked. I try backing up, but my back hits a wall, a concert wall that wasn't their moments ago and traps me with the girl who carries on her slow advance towards me.

I'm shaking so much now that I can hear the floor start to vibrate and my breath, I can't seem to catch my breath no matter how hard, or much I breathe. My legs give out from under me, and I fall to the ground getting covered in blood that splashes up from the puddle I landed in. The girl gets closer and closer never slowing or speeding up her advance, and her smile never leaves her face for a second.

The rotten smell is now making me gag, oh god it smells so bad, it's the girl, the rotten smell is coming from her, and with every step, she takes the smell gets a lot worse. I think I'm going to be sick. First seeing that girl, a girl from a past, I'm not proud of, and now blood covered floors and a rotten smell that's only getting worse. I really do think I'm…

"Your pathetic Tracy," The girl say's as she stops right in front of me and I finally do throw up, her breath is so bad, it's like something literally died in her mouth. "Just look at you, actually puking in fear."

I look up at her, even though she's small. I still have to look up at her sitting on the floor like I am.

"P… Please just… Just leave me alone… Please," I beg in fear of my life as I do my best not to break eye contact with the girl and vomit again. "Please."

"Why should I do that?" The girl replies as she draws a mace with razor-sharp spikes and a heavy, strong looking ball where the spikes attach too.

What is she going to do with…? Wait she's going to… Please don't use… Oh god please, please god don't let her hit me with that thing. She raises the mace above her head, and I'm left speechless at the sight of the deadly weapon baring down on me that I can't move, can't speak or do anything to protect myself from the painful blow soon to strike me for my past mistakes.

"It's what you deserve!" She screams.

"Noooooo!" I scream myself awake with. I lay still on the bed too afraid to look around in case I see the girl with the mace again preparing to finish me off. I slowly work up the courage to look around though, and after a deep breath I sit up and scan the room to find it empty and through the window, I can see the sun start to rise. I look around and can't spot any sign of Lynne. I wonder where she could be. "Lynne."

"Yes," I hear Lynne's voice reply through the door. What is she doing up and about so early? "Can you open the door for me I have my hands full?"

"Yeah, I am coming," I tell her as I stretch myself out before getting to my feet. "So, what are you doing so early in the morning?"

"It's a surprise I show you when you open the door" Lynne answer as I open the door and in an instant, I know something is wrong, Lynne isn't holding anything in her hand and she isn't lazy enough to not be bothered to open a door. "Thank you."

"Um, Lynne I thought you said you had your hands fall," I say as Lynne steps into the room closing the door behind her. "So, what's the surprise?"

"This" Lynne replies not in her own voice but in the voice of the girl how haunts my dreams, I watch in horror as Lynne turns into the little girl and her clothes become blood-soaked. Lynne or the little girl or whoever this is then pulls out a giant spiked mace at least twice as big as the one before and raises it above their head, as they bring the mace down whoever it is screams. "It's what you deserve!"

* * *

I wake up covered in a cold sweat and wrapped in Lynne's arms who's looking at me with a worried, concerned look on her face. I can't breathe, my lungs refuse to fill with air no matter how much I breathe, my hands won't stop shaking, and I'm sure my whole body would be shaking uncontrollably if it wasn't for Lynne holding me. Lynne just remains silent as she holds me, she knows I don't need words of comfort to calm me down just her hugging me along with my mother's calm breathing technique.

Its ok I just need to calm down, I breathe in and out reminding myself it was just a dream and that the girl can't hurt me. It's not that I don't deserve what she does to me in my nightmares like she says I do deserve it after what I did to her, I deserve everything she does or is going to do to me. I don't think anything can absolve me of the sins of my past; they will haunt me till the day I day and probably for all eternity in the afterlife.

"Tracy, are you ok?" Lynne asks in a quiet, sweet calming voice as she continues to hold me.

"Yeah," I reply in as steady of a voice as I can muster. "I'm fine it was just a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lynne says as she releases me from her warm, comforting embrace.

"I can't even if I wanted to," I tell her, I know speaking about things like this can help but I can't because of the event. I look at Lynne to see her expression is now one of mixed confusion and concern. "It's about a classified mission that happened a year ago so I can't talk about it."

"Oh well ok but I'm here for you if you want to talk," Lynne says placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I know," I reply with a weak smile "You've been there for me ever since we met."

"Well I think you helped me a lot more then I helped you," Lynne says looking down and removing her hand from my shoulder.

"Are you kidding me, without you I would have failed school if it wasn't for you," I tell her making her blush. "So how long have we got till the Major starts torturing us?"

"About an hour and a half but first I have to help Yoshika make breakfast," Lynne answers as she gets up off the bed. "Do you want to help us?"

"Sure," I say as I also get up.

Lynne and I quickly change me into a military uniform and Lynne into her school uniform and leave the room, we head straight to the kitchen and find Yoshika already their getting stuff prepped for cooking. She's so busy with her head buried deep inside a cupboard looking for something that she doesn't notice we enter, it isn't until we are right behind her and Lynne taps her shoulder that she finally realises that we are present.

Yoshika jumps from the gentle tap and hits her head on the cupboard, when she finally emerges from the cupboard she's rubbing a small lump on her head. Lynne immediately lowers her head ashamed about causing her friends injury as the lump of Yoshika's head grows and reddens. Meanwhile I walk over to the freeze picking up a cup on my way and scrape some ice into the glass, once I got enough ice I walk over to Yoshika and hand her the glass.

"Here hold this to the lump," I tell her as I hand her the glass full of ice which she takes with a smile and presses it straight away on her lump. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Yoshika says in a reassuring voice. "And thank you for the cup of ice"

"I'm sorry Yoshika I didn't mean for you to get hurt," Lynne quickly says keeping her head bowed mimicking the way people in Fuso apologise.

"It's ok really I'm fine," Yoshika replies putting on a warm smile as Lynne raises her head.

"So, what's for breakfast?" I ask stirring the conversation away from Yoshika's lump on her head.

"Scrambled eggs on toast," Yoshika answers pointing to the eggs on the side. "Those eggs need to be eaten soon."

"Sounds good I'll get started on the eggs Tracy can you start to make the toast?" Lynne says instantly snapping out of her forgiving self.

"I'm on it," I reply picking up a loaf of bread and quickly spotting a bread knife to slice it with.

"Yoshika, can you get the milk out for me," Lynne request and Yoshika instantly complies opening the fridge she's stood next to.

Half an hour later everyone is present even though both Sanya and Erica are half a sleep much to the annoyance of Barkhorn, she's constantly pulling Erica's ear every time the girl falls asleep and to the delight of Eila who seems over joyed with Sanya's head resting on her shoulder. We sever up breakfast together with Yoshika only having the use of one hand since she's still holding the cup of ice which is mostly water now to her head, the lump is still visible getting a reaction from Barkhorn, Minna and Major Sakamoto, everyone else is too tired to pay attention enough to notice.

No one is very talkative this morning as most can barely keep their eyes open for thirty seconds, Barkhorn, Minna and Major Sakamoto are the only ones other than myself, Lynne and Yoshika who are wide awake. But Barkhorn is too busy nagging Erica, Major Sakamoto isn't looking at anyone just her food and Minna hasn't said a word other than good morning to everyone as they enter. Lynne's too shy to start a conversation in a group this size and always has been for as long as I've known her, Yoshika is having enough trouble eating with only one hand and myself, well I don't really feel comfortable around these girls yet despite the warm friendly welcome they gave me on my arrival.

But thankfully the silence doesn't last long but the thing that breaks the silence isn't something to be thankful for, it's the air raid alarm that breaks the silence alerting us to the Neuroi heading our way. Minna takes a good look around the room but seems disappointed in the fact that most of us are still half asleep but finally she does speak or rather shout of the sound of the air raid alarm.

"Trude, Erica, Lynne and Tracy prepare to take off and intercept the enemy, Major you in command of them!" Minna orders and all the said names stand up, I'm surprised to see Erica jump after seeing her sleep through all Barkhorn's nagging. "I'll be here trying to wake everyone up to give you some back up!"

"You heard the commander move out!" Sakamoto shouts pointing towards the door.

"Yes ma'am!" We all shout back as we start to run for the door.

"Miyafuji fill several buckets with cold water and bring them to me!" I hear Minna order as I leave the room. Is she going to throw water over everyone like I'm imagining right now?

We run into the hanger and grab our guns along with some ammo as quickly as humanly possible, what few maintains workers were present in the hanger rush to open the giant steel doors letting in the cold morning breeze. We mount our Striker Units just as the door fully opens and start our engine, the ears and tail of a Britannia Shorthair cat my familiar appear on me as the engine starts up and a magic circle glows below me.

Sakamoto fly's a bit forward, and at first, I thought she was going to lead us out to battle but instead she fly's in front of me and lobs a small object gently into my hands. I look at the object in my hands carefully, it's blue with the 501st Joint Fighter Wings insignia on it and it's tiny. I know what it is in an instant, it's a special radio us witches use powered by magic much smaller and lighter than any other radio around, I've used one since the first day I enrolled in the RAF so I quickly and effortlessly put it in my ear.

"Alright everyone the Neuroi is heading for our base and is currently straight south from us, ten kilometres away and closing," Major Sakamoto tells us as she flies into a position where each of us can easily see her. "Barkhorn, Hartmann, and Tracy you three will take the lead well Lynne and I stay back and provide support until I locate the core."

"Yes ma'am," We all instantly reply without missing a beat and take off into the cold morning sky.

Once in the air we take up our formation, Barkhorn, Erica and I take up a V formation with Barkhorn at the point, me on the right and Erica on the left. Behind up Lynne and Major Sakamoto fly side by side leaving about fifteen meter in-between us and them. The sky is so beautiful its almost unimaginable as we fly through it, blue sky's little clouds and those few are white and fluffy, sparkling blue sea below and we took off early enough to see the sun rise

Seagulls have already taken flight and fly alongside us enjoying the perfect sky alongside us. It would have been a perfect time for flying if it wasn't for the fact that the reason we are flying is to stop a Neuroi, I could kill it single handily for ruining such a perfect morning for flying. That bloody Neuroi destroying such an occasion for a flight, I swear I will end it for this, mark my words Neuroi you are going down.

We fly for another minute until I know we are close to the Neuroi. I didn't need the Major or anyone else to tell me we are close to the bloody thing, the Seagulls already told me. They flow off in every direction acting as if something evil and dangerous was close, their sense for danger is something I trust so I ready myself for battle. Just then out of a cloud a head of us a Neuroi dives down out of it screeching and ready for a fight.

The Neuroi isn't that big, it's long and thin with two sets of wings that form an X halfway down its body. At the end of each wing is a sphere with a red patch facing us and on the nose of the Neuroi is another red patch, at the rear of the Neuroi are eight cubes each with a red patch facing outwards. This thing doesn't look so tough.

"Barkhorn's group…" Major Sakamoto begun to order but the eight cubes break off the Neuroi becoming Drones and five more Drones drop out of the cloud to join the fight, these Drones are also cubed shaped like the ones that broke off the Neuroi. "Barkhorn's group engage at will, Lynnette cover me while I find the core."

"Yes ma'am," We all reply before Erica and I join Barkhorn in a charge on the Neuroi.

The Drones match our charge with a charge of their own only they go in laser blazing, it takes us a few more seconds of charging while blocking and evading incoming beams before the Drones come in range of our weapons. As soon as the enemies in range we open fire without a second’s delay bringing down three Drones, one each in our opening shots, but the remaining ten take evasive actions and avoid our bullets. The Drones are surprising fast and agile as the charge towards us dodging the hail of lead we send their way. This fight has just gotten a lot tougher.

We continue to charge at each other firing and dodging shots as we go not one of us scoring a single hit on the others. We are barely ten meters apart now but still we all manage to avoid being hit, five meters still no hit man we are getting to close for comfort, one meter away finally I get a sight I am hopping for as a Neuroi Drone enters my sights filling it completely. I pull the trigger without hesitation sending a burst of bullets into the invader that rip straight through its body shattering it into a shower of shinny pieces.

We pass each other by and loop round for another charge, I quickly take the time to count the enemy Drones, there's eight left so that means someone else got one… a loud band rips through the sky quickly followed by another Drone shattering I look up to see Lynne and Major Sakamoto flying high above us and the Drone's, Lynne's aiming her anti-tank rifle which now has a smoky barrel and a bright purple light is emitting from the Major's eye.

"Listen up the larger Neuroi is just a decoy the cores in one of the cubes but I can't locate it here, can anyone see another group of Cubes?" Major Sakamoto informs as but I don't have time to look as my group approaches the Neuroi bring one down thanks to Barkhorn in route and another three as we pass. Lynne and Sakamoto take out another Drone each as the pass us by leaving only two cubes left. "Dammit, the cores not here."

"Th… S… Comman… Ni… S any…One…" Minna's voice says in says over a static filled radio barely getting through. "The… Ba… Tow…Nee… Up…"

"What is she saying?" Erica asks as she fires bringing down a cube with a well-aimed shot from Lynne finishing off the other cube.

"Everyone return to base it's under attack from a tower" Major Sakamoto orders just as I come to the same conclusion, that tower would explain the bad radio reception. We fly flat out pushing our Strikers to the limit to return to and defend the base, those sneaky Neuroi using a decoy to weaken our defences. When did they become so smart? But we don't get far into our return trip until an enemy I forgot about dives down in front of us causing us all to stop and block a barrage of beams sent straight at us. It's the thin Neuroi that transported those cube Drones and acted as a decoy, now its blocking our path and stopping us from helping our fellow squad mates. "Take it out quickly we need to get back."

"Tracy, Erica follow me," Barkhorn orders as she charges straight towards the enemy blocking our path.

We fire every bullet we have into the bloody thing and I must say hearing that clicking sound you gun makes when it's empty is sickening. Erica and I pull away from the Neuroi when we hear that clicking to reload but Barkhorn carries on her charge switch her grip to hold the barrels of her guns before she glows a bright white, her weapons also glow that bright white colour as she speeds up and heads straight for the Neuroi. She slams her weapons into the top of the Neuroi with great straight, causing dust pieces of Neuroi to shoot off in every direction. So, super strength that's her ability.

As Barkhorn pulls away she twists round taking a Panzerfaust of her back and firing it at the Neuroi, combining this with her first attack she cuts the Neuroi in half. The rear half shatters but the front half with the X wings remains intact and quickly fire five beams at Barkhorn which she barely manages to block in time with her shield. A loud band followed by one of the spears at the end of the wing exploding, I can tell by the loud gun shot that that was Lynne's handy work. Erica and I now reloaded dive down on the Neuroi before it can recover and with one final attack we blow the bastard from the sky and the Neuroi shatters just before it hits the water.

"This isn't the time to celebrate ladies we need to help the base," Sakamoto says as she starts once again to head for home.

When the base comes into sight I can see several fires have broken out, there's a large hole in the middle of the runway but most chillingly of all the sights there is the Neuroi tower spraying that shiny stuff that blocks radar and radio signals in all directions. The tower is huge about the same size as the base but only has one red patch to shot from, but from watching this thing that one red patch has a high rate of fire spitting out beam after beam with barely a second in-between.

The tower looks like it has thick armour and looking above the tower I see every one of the 501st except for Sanya who's probably too tired in the sky preparing an attack. As we continue our approach I watch them dive down in two groups on the tower, group one Minna, Shirley and Lucchini takes one side while Yoshika, Eila and Perrine take the other. I can see several white lines appear in the towers armour but those wounds completely heal in seconds, dam that thing has fast regeneration too.

We join in on the attack just as the wounds heal concentrating our fire on one spot near the top of the tower and being awarded when a large hole is blown through the Neuroi. But when we turn back around to once again face the and attack again, I see the wound we inflect is nearly healed, and I watch helplessly as the tower quickly repairs itself.

"Good to see you guys could join us," Shirley says as we all regroup above the tower where it can't shoot us.

"Major I need you to find the core," Minna quickly says taking command of the situation. "That tower has thick skin and a fast regeneration rate meaning we are wasting our ammo right now until you can find the core."

"I get right on it, Lynnette, Miyafuji cover me," Sakamoto replies flying off with Lynne and Yoshika close behind.

"Everyone else keep the towers attention on us and away from the base," Minna orders as the tower starts to destroy the cars and trucks parked outside the castle. "Trude, Erica, Tracy and Perrine get down low and attack the tower, everyone else follow me and we will attack from above"

"Yes ma'am," Everyone replies as I follow Barkhorn in a dive down to the earth.

We pull up just inches above the ground and speed up to charge the tower. We wait until we are close to open fire wanting to make every bullet count. It isn't until we are a few meters away from the tower we open fire, Barkhorn with her dual MG's cuts a small triangle out of the tower that shatters on the ground while all Erica and I can do is paint a thin trail of bullet holes on the surface of this monster. Perrine, I can't see what damage she dealt the Neuroi, but I'm guessing it's like the damage Erica and I inflected.

As we pull out, I can hear Minna's group begun to open fire. We level off above the tower to assess the damage we dealt but are disappointed. All the damage we inflected has healed apart from Barkhorn's which we watch rapidly heal. We watch every bullet hole Minna's group made into the top of the tower close one after another. The tower doesn't even flinch, and we fail to get it even to look our way. Instead, it fires at a fuel truck causing it to explode in a massive fireball and fill the sky with thick nocuous smoke that completely blocks out the sun.

These things are unstoppable. Just as I think that a loud bang rips through the sky, a bullet tears through the smoke and smashes into the top of the Neuroi and flying down through the newly created hole in the smoke with the sunlight making the look like angles are Major Sakamoto, Yoshika, and Lynne.

"Everyone the cores behind the red patch concentrate you fire there," Major Sakamoto says as the smoke closes the hole behind them once again blocking out the sun.

"You heard the Major Strike Witches attack," Minna quickly orders not letting a single second pass after the Major's last words.

We all attack head on guns blazing but now we do have the Neuroi's attention, and it shoots beam after beam at us. The incoming fire is too intense that we can't advance, we can't fire our weapon, and we can't do anything but put up our shields and hope they hold. The only thing I can think of doing is something I really wish I don't have to do, it leaves me exhausted and I normally blackout after using it but it looks like I have no choice.

Another beam hits my shield I don't know whether it's because I'm tired or the beam has become more powerful, but it pushes me back several meters. I don't have time to think a decided it's now or never if I wait any longer we will all be dead. Dammit, I have no choice but to do it. I concentrate and activate my ability waiting till after the next beam hits me to do so.

My body glows a bright golden color and time freezes completely; I can see every beam is completely still all the witches are motionless still holding up their shields. Everything is silent, and still, the only thing I can hear is the roar of my Striker Unit as I hover in place. Looking at the devastation around me it's haunting to be here when it's so quiet. But I can't waste time looking around already I'm starting to feel tired, so I must move quickly.

I fly up to the Neuroi towers red patch positioning myself next to the red patch but slightly off to the side so I won't be in the line of fire. I must unfreeze time to shoot this thing, my bare hands and bladed weapons will work in this frozen time, but guns and engines are to complete with their moving parts to work. My Striker Unit is an exception because it powered by magic, but anything else with a moving component won't work in this state.

I'm starting to fade in and out of consciousness now, and my magical energy is running low, so I only have on shot at this. With a deep breath, I unfreeze time and quickly fire every bullet I have loaded into my gun at the red patch. I don't get to see the results as my vision blurs and I drop out of the sky; I feel my Striker Unit detach and fall off my legs. I know falling to the ground and most likely to my death should scare me, but right now I'm too tired to care what happens to me. All I want to do is sleep. I give in to my exhaustion and close my eyes fading into darkness as I plummet from the sky.

"Tracy!" I hear Lynne scream as I finally full into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Lynne's POV**

* * *

"Tracy!" I scream as I dive towards my friend who's falling and unconscious. I dive down as fast as I could and barely get to her in time, I only just catch her in time pulling up inches above the water. "Tracy, are you ok?"

"Lynne, what's wrong with her?" Yoshika asks flying beside me.

"She's unconscious," I say to her hoping it won't get as bad as last time, she's older and much stronger now, it can't get as bad as it was last time. Can it?

"Lynne take Tracy to the medical ward," Minna suddenly orders appearing out of nowhere at my side. "Yoshika go with her"

"Yes ma'am," We both reply in unison and fall her order without a moments delay. Please be alright Tracy.

* * *

**Sargent Barnett POV**

* * *

"Noble this is Trojan come in we have a problem," I say over the radio, I saw Lynne run past me carrying an unconscious Tracy in her arms I knew I had to report this right away. I sneak away at the first chance I got and switched on the radio.

"This is Noble what's wrong Trojan?" The voice replies after a few seconds of silence. "You’re not meant to check in for several hours, please transmit your code."

"That which sees all wins all," I tell him. "Tracy's injured Noble."

"Carry on as normal Trojan," The voice replies, and I can hardly belie what I am hearing. We have a man down, and nothing's being done about it.

"Yes sir," I reply knowing from experience that arguing will only lead to trouble.

"Good Noble out," The voice says before static fills the air.


End file.
